Systemic thinking in environmental management: support for sustainable development

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.07.004

Journal of Cleaner Production

Volume 13, Issue 12, October 2005, Pages 1197-1202

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.07.004 Get rights and content

Abstract

Our society has been undergoing a transition process from a mechanicist to a systemic or ecological paradigm. Within the environmental context, this transition represents an issue of survival for man and for the biosphere itself, which is being constantly assaulted by man's productive activities and as a result of this has been suffering great physical changes.

The currently adopted development model is highly consumerist and predatory. A systemic vision of the world and its application in the process of environmental management is essential to transcend our present day development model and to reach a fair and ecologically correct social model or, in other words, sustainable development (SD).

Introduction

The remarkable expansion of technical and productive capabilities and the world's sharp demographic growth have highlighted, especially during the second half of the 20th century, that natural resources and the services derived from them are not unlimited and that their scarcity or exhaustion constitutes a serious threat to humanity's present and future well being [3]. This led to the creation of a new development model, namely, SD.

The awareness of ecological principles leads to recognizing that all human activity has a related ecological cost, which means that any intervention in systems and natural processes should take into account their sustainability and elasticity, as well as the base of natural resources. This awareness also emphasizes the need to understand the holistic nature of life, including biological, social and political life [4]. Thus, systemic reasoning arises. It is a way of considering interrelations rather than things, establishing patterns of change that represent a set of general principles, refined over the course of 20 years, including fields of knowledge as diverse as physical and social sciences, engineering and management.

Systemic reasoning also comprises a set of specific techniques and tools, whose origins are twofold: the feedback concepts of cybernetics and of the 19th century “servomechanism” engineering theory. During the last 30 years, these tools have been applied to the understanding of a great variety of managerial, urban, regional, economic, political, ecological and even physiological systems [17].

However, work is scarce on the systemic paradigm as an indispensable element of the theoretical integration of the field of human ecology and the feasibility of an environmental policy guided by a preventive rather then remedial view [20].

The objective of this article is to discuss the importance of the systemic view in environmental management as the sole way of achieving SD.

Section snippets

Sustainable development

A major obstacle to the achievement of SD is lack of agreement of the conceptual bases, mainly the inherent ambiguity of the terms involved: what can be sustained and developed at the same time? The direct object of sustainability has a different meaning for different parties. Ecologists want to sustain the natural environment, whereas consumers want to maintain their consumption levels and employees want to conserve their jobs. As long as the concept means different things to different agents,

Discussion

Not only are industrial activities a major source of environmental destruction but also agriculture. The indiscriminate use of fertilizers and defensive chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics) by agricultural producers is a significant source of environmental pollution. These chemicals are not only harmful to the environment but also to man; not only through the consumption of contaminated food but also during the application of these substances in plantations, usually

Conclusions

From the arguments presented, we emphasize that systemic thinking is undoubtedly an important tool for the current pattern of development to be transformed into environmentally correct development, i.e., SD.

This transition to SD will enable us help ensure man's quality of life and survival on earth. The effects of man's unconscious and irresponsible behavior towards the environment and disregard for these complex and interconnected issues can be clearly seen on a global basis and have been

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Note from the fieldSystemic thinking in environmental management: support for sustainable development

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Sustainable development

Discussion

Conclusions

Journal of Cleaner Production

World commission on environment and development

Our common future

System engineering: methodik and praxis

Development and environment under a new optics

Environment

The environmental politics in Brazil

Population, environment and development: truths and contradictions

Management procedures for sustainable development, applicable to municipalities, micro-regions and hydrographic basins

The concept of environmental sustainability

Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics

Instruments of environmental management: methods of managing of hydrographic basins

Note from the field
Systemic thinking in environmental management: support for sustainable development